Money, Money, Money…$$$

I’m a self-confessed uncontrollable spender. I love spending money. “Because when I shop, the world gets better”. Not really, but you get the drill. I have this need to spend money everyday – it doesn’t have to be an expensive purchase, it can be on food, a small gift for someone, flowers for my house, a scented candle, anything. As long as I spend some money, “my world gets better”.

While credit cards a.k.a ‘magic cards’ seem to be the perfect ‘cure’ to my ‘small addiction’ – think about it, I could buy anything I want just by swiping this little bad boy!! Ahh heaven! – I’ve made a conscious decision to never, NEVER.EVER own a credit card. Why? Simply put, I’m not mature enough to manage my own finances/spendings. And probably never will be.

Spending money you don’t have (yet) is very dangerous. Especially if you are like me where you just want everything and can’t keep track of where your money goes. I swear sometimes the bank steals my money. Today I have a healthy sum of money in my bank account, and the next day, psssshhh! GONE! And I’m always in the same situation “How the hell did that happen?!” I don’t keep receipts, I buy stuff online and sometimes I forget about my purchases until I receive them, I pretend that I have my budget all worked out but at the end of every month, I always find myself transferring some “SOS Money” from my NetSaver account back into my everyday account. In saying that, I am mindful of price whenever I shop. I just don’t always realise that ‘many $30 things’ quickly add up and before you know it, you’re broke-as and need SOS money.

‘Bills’ is one of my least favourite word. Not because of what it sounds like, but more because of what it means. I can’t stand anywhere near bills. So I put them away, out of my sight and pretend they don’t exist…until I get a late payment notice, which usually incurrs a fee. Don’t worry, I’m not the one who manages bills and finances at home for that very reason. I suck at it.

I met a very interesting Malaysian guy while I was holidaying in Thailand last year. I wish I remembered his name, but anyway, here’s a quick snapshot of what you need to know about him before I tell you the story. He was 57 back then, retired since 53, worked in the financial sector, married, wealthy & spends his retirement travelling the world with his wife. We were on the same day-tour and started chatting. I don’t quite remember how the conversation led to that but we started talking about the importance of managing your finances and how he got to where he is now, i.e retired at 53 and able to afford 4-6 trips a year. His advice was to never go into debts and get better at managing your finances. He never had any loans, never had a mortgage, never owned a credit card, never bought anything on credit. He only spends money he actually has, is very strict with managing his budget and knows the importance of saving. Inspiring right?

I too understand the importance of saving, and believe it or not, I do save. My savings help me sleep at night. If I don’t have that financial safety-net, I get really stressed. And I’m a terrible stress-head. So I need a decent pool of money there for the just-in-case situations. I probably could save a lot more but, my world would become very very sad. It’s all about finding that right balance.

Right now, I’m in my monthly ‘broke-phase’. 2.5 weeks to go until pay day. I die. It is the worse time ever to be broke because of all the awesome mid-year sales happening right now. Just yesterday, all the girls in my office were looking at some amazing shoe sales on the Wittner website (Check it out, up to 65% off Wittner Factory Outlet) and all I could hear were “Ohhh, ahhhh, OMG!!, I love this one, etc”. Do you realise how painful this is ?? Ok, it’s definitely not as hard as it would have been if they were shopping for handbags but still… But this month, I’m determined not to reach out to any ‘SOS money’. So f**k shoes and all the other amazing sales going on at the moment!

I’m going to the bank this weekend to open another type of savings account that I think will help me with my little problem. It’s called the GoalSaver account. How it works, is you put money in that account every month (or whenever you want) and the only way to withdraw money from the GoalSaver is by physically going to a branch. For my lazy butt, that’s perfect because it means I will be less likely to turn to ‘SOS money’ at the end of each month and my savings will remain ‘untouched’ until I can use it towards something I really want later on, like a holiday or a new handbag.

I’ve also decided to take my financial future into my own hands. I will work on setting up a realistic budget for myself, allowing myself a buffer to calm my shopaholic cravings but also focus on putting more money aside every month. I’m making a pledge, today, to sort out my money issues and to never have to use SOS money again unless it’s for a life-threatening emergency. I don’t have unrealistic expectations because let’s face it, I’ll never become good at managing finances, but I believe I can become better than what I am now…Let’s say I can become less-shit at it. I still refuse to look after bills etc at home. Bills & I aren’t, and never will be friends. EVER.

3 Comments

I can totally relate to the statement on the last pic. I think so many of us suffer from this “infinite torture”!!! Backing you 200% towards you improving the way you manage your finances. Once you think you’ve become reasonably good at this, please write another blog on “How to better manage your Finances & to better control your urge to spend” :)I think I’ll need it. Very well depicts this never-ending war within each one of us. Muaaahhh xxx